


The Past that Binds You

by HayaMika



Category: Villainous (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Black Hat has a Bad Past, Black Hats Backstory as Told by Flug, Character Death, European Witch Trials, Gen, Historical References, Hurt/Comfort, Possible historical inaccuracy, Violence, Witch Trials, backstory headcanon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-24
Updated: 2017-07-05
Packaged: 2018-11-18 07:34:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11286627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HayaMika/pseuds/HayaMika
Summary: How exactly did Black Hat come to be? He's obviously not of this earth, right? This story touches on his life, how he came to be and the struggles he faced along the way.(This is a HEADCANON backstory for Black Hat. May or may not be accurate to his actual backstory in canon.)





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Oh boy a fanfiction for something thats not Laika or Star Wars. WHAT A SURPRISE!
> 
> Anyway, this is a story that I've been developing for a few days involving my headcanon for Black Hats backstory. I hope people can enjoy it and have fun with it. It does touch on some actual historical events and prior research has been done before writing this, but be prepared for possible inaccuracy either way as this is still a work of fiction and I will play with the story a bit and some things may be ignored to help the story play along.
> 
> This majority of this story takes place in early to mid-1600's Holy Roman Empire, around the time of the European Witch Trials. I originally was going to have him be in Spain for the entire span of this story, but after some research I learned that there were very few Witch Trials in Spain. This will play out ad make more sense later in the story. 
> 
> For now, please enjoy and have fun!

Black Hat had been so very quiet that day, which was strange and triggered heightened alert for Dr. Flug.

“U-Uh… anyone else notice how… unusually quiet and d-distant Black Hat’s been today?” Flug didn’t look up from his work as he addressed the question towards Demencia.   
  
“Hm? Uhhhh…. Well now that you mention it, he doesn’t seem so screamy and stuff today!” Demencia replied as she fidgeted with some contraption that Flug gave her to keep her from getting in the way of his work. 5.0.5, who was sitting by Demencia, let out a small but concerned growl in agreement.   
  
Flug was ready to ignore the whole situation, write it off as one of those days where Black Hat might just be so angry that he doesn’t want to even pretend his employees work for him, then it hit him.   
  
“Wait… Whats the d-date today?” Flug dropped what he was working on, quickly scrambling for his phone in his pocket. He flipped on the screen and his shoulders fell once he got confirmation for the date.   
  
“What?” Demencia started, “Is it his birthday or something? Why would you be depessed on your bir-”   
  
“No, Demencia…” Flug cut her off, “Its… I mean, I-I guess you could call it a “Birth Day”... but n-not in the same way normal birthdays work…” Flug held his phone to his chest, eyes cast down towards the floor.   
  
“What do you mean?” Demencia asked, hopping up quickly and letting the thing she was playing with fall to the ground. 5.0.5 also became interested, staring up at Flug with the biggest eyes he could muster at the moment, waiting for an answer.   
  
“I… I’m not s-sure its my place to talk about i-it…” Flug slid his phone back into his pocket. Just as he turned to return to his work, Demencia grabbed his arm and pulled him towards her.   
  
“Come on! Its not like Black Hat is gonna  _ know _ .”   
  
Flug sighed and looked over towards 5.0.5. Somehow the bear managed to make his eyes even bigger, more curiosity swelling in them than before.   
“Y-You promise not to tell him t-that I told you?”   
  
Demencia and 5.0.5 both nod.   
  
“Alright… U-Uh… Hmmm…” He stood for a good minute while he tried to collect his thoughts.   
  
“Well… Y-You see…. As you know, Black Hat isn’t originally f-from this world…” He started.   
  
“Yeah?” Demencia replied…   
  
“Shh… Let me talk... Ok so, what you m-may not know though is that…" Flug paused both to think and, if he was gonna be honest, he wanted to add a slight dramatic effect, "He’s not really allowed to go back to w-where he’s from…”   
  
Demencia cocked her head to the side, much like how a dog would when they were confused or listening for something.   
  
“I g-guess I’ll just cut to the chase. H-here’s the story of how Black Hat got summoned and h-how hes now been t-trapped here for several hundred years…”   



	2. Meet Thomas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First "official" chapter of the story! Introducing Thomas, our secondary main character! Enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One: Thomas is a dork, I am sorry... 
> 
> Two: Scroll to the end of the chapter for a character guide of Black Hat's design for this story! I'm still working on Thomas' design, so eventually I'll have his character guide for you guys, too!
> 
> And Three: We got canon heights for the characters now, but I'm still sticking with the idea of Black Hat being a lot shorter than Thomas in this fic. I do honestly believe that Black Hat was a lot shorter when he was a "younger demon" and has grown since the time this story took place.

Black Hat remembers seeing nothing but a bright light… A flash. Then suddenly he was standing in a dark room, lit dimly with a few candles on the floor by his feet and a small fire that roared behind him. In front of him was a figure, clothed in a dark cloak much like his own.  
  
“It worked… It worked!!” Black Hat jumped at the sudden voice coming from the cloaked figure. It sounded young, maybe not much older than 20 human years. The figure pulled back the hood on their cloak, revealing a mop of blonde hair and some deep green eyes.  
  
“I can’t believe it worked…” The human said again.  
  
Black Hat cocked his head to the side slightly and watched as the human stood. The person was atleast half a foot taller than Black Hat, but the demon was not going to be intimidated.  
  
Black Had cleared his throat, “Greetings, I am Black Hat. For what purpose have you summoned me?”  
  
The warlock, who was bouncing ever so slightly still, quickly turned to Black Hat, “Oh uhhh… I didn’t even think it’d work… I never got that far…”  
  
Black Hat groaned, slapping a hand on his face as frustration built up within him.  
  
The man caught on to the frustration and quickly reacted, “B-But I can figure something out! Don’t worry! Uh…"  
  
Black Hat crossed his arms, impatiently tapping his foot against the wooden floor as he waited for this imbecile to figure out what he wants done.  
  
Black Hat started to remember why he hated the Demon Code. Demon Code is the code that all demons who work for the underworld must follow. It entails the rules and guidelines to keep everything as orderly as possible, at least for those in the underworld. But there was one part that Black Hat hated.  
  
Law 5. The code that made it impossible for a demon to just leave at free will. Once someone has summoned them, to keep your honor, the demon must fulfill the request of their “master” or else they can’t return. Black Hat, in all honesty, couldn’t care less about honor. He didn’t want to be on this damn planet any longer than he had to.  
  
In the previous times he’s been summoned, the person who summoned him usually had a prior purpose before attempting the summoning spell. This doofus, however, was a first for him.  
  
Then that “doofus” spoke up, bringing Black Hat out of his thoughts.  
  
“A-are… are there any rules to this?”  
  
“None except that if you don’t figure out your request sooner rather later you will surely regret even attempting to summon anyone.” Black Hat threatened, voice low and gruff.  
  
The man stepped back, pulling his arms towards his chest ever so slightly.  
  
“Yeah uhh…” The man turned his eyes towards the ground, once again losing himself to his thoughts…  
  
“Oh wait… I know!”  
  
Black Hat tilted his head a bit in response to the sudden yell.  
  
“Ok so… could you maybe… uh…. help me get with this girl I like?” The man looked at Black Hat with the most awkward expression. His smile was crooked and he had his hands pulled up to his chest in a sort of…. _Innocent way_. Black Hat could barely believe he was summoned by this guy.  
  
“So you’re telling me that you, one, summoned a demon without a plan of what you wanted that demon to do and that, two, the best thing you could come up with as far as how you’d want me to help you is _to help you get with a girl?_ ” Black Hat crossed his arms, giving the man in front of him the most displeased look he could manage.  
  
The man shrugged a bit, rubbing at the back of his neck.  
  
Black Hat sighed, rubbing one hand against his temple, “Alright… Alright, let’s do it.”  
  
The blonde haired man’s smile grew and he clapped his hands together. He then put one out to Black Hat, asking for a hand in return.  
  
Black Hat returned the gesture, albeit slowly and with a less than enthusiastic expression.  
  
“By the way, the names Thomas.” Said the _now-less-mysterious_ warlock. 

Black Hat raised an eyebrow and then let go of Thomas’ hand, brushing it off on his shirt.  
  
“Let’s just get this over with.” Black Hat said, making his way for the door behind Thomas, but the taller man grabbed his arm.  
  
Black Hat turned around with a growl, appalled that this _human_ dared to touch him, let alone grab him with such strength. Black Hat pulled his arm from Thomas’ grasp, taking one step back.  
  
“Everyone in the village is already asleep. The best thing we could do right now is scout out who it is I want you to help me get.” Thomas said, somehow unphased by Black Hat’s anger.  
  
Black Hat groaned, muttering something along the lines of _“I don’t wanna be trapped here for more than a day with you, you bloody idiot”_ under his breath.  
  
“Fine.”  
  
\---  
  
“There she is…” Thomas said, peering into the window in front of them. Black Hat looked in himself, met with the face of a young woman that looked to be no older than 19. He was able to see a few of her features in the little bit of moonlight they had that night. Her face was thin, dainty if you will, and she had her rich brunette hair pulled back into a small bun and was clothed in a thin night dress.  
  
“Shes so… beautiful. Her name is Cecil...” Thomas said longingly. Black Hat gagged quietly, rolling his eyes while turning away from the window.  
  
Thomas turned around, glaring slightly at Black Hat before turning back to looking through the window.  
  
“Ok so... What’s so special about this girl that you can’t get her on your own?” Black Hat crossed his arms over his chest.  
  
“She… uhh… She may or may not really even know I exist?” Thomas looked towards Black Hat, rubbing a hand along the back of his neck.   
  
Black Hat looked at him, one eyebrow raised in question.  
  
“She’s courting someone else already.” Thomas blurted out.  
  
“Why didn’t you--!” Black Hat started yelling but Thomas grabbed him, quickly clamping a hand over the small demon’s mouth.  
  
Thomas looked back into Cecil’s window, making sure she hadn’t been awoken from the yelling outside her thin window. He saw her stir, but she continued to sleep.  
  
Meanwhile, he hadn’t seen Black Hat squirm to loosen Thomas’ hand on his mouth... _Enough to bite at the hand_. Thomas squeaked, pulling his hand away from Black Hat and letting the demon go.  
  
Thomas looked down at his hand to see a few small wounds in the shape of a set of teeth bleeding out lightly.  
  
“That hurt you know!” Thomas whispered loudly, holding his other hand over the wounds to keep them from bleeding more.  
  
“Maybe you’ll learn not to touch me, then.” Black Hat said coldly, eyes closed and his arms crossed over his chest once more.  
  
Overhead a bright light flashed and a loud rumble was heard. The two of them looked up to see the dark clouds, ones that had only been in the distance only a few minutes ago, rolling in.  
  
“Guess we should hurry up and get home before--” Thomas was cut off by the sensation of droplets on his face.  
  
“-- it starts raining…” Thomas sighed out and stood up. Another flash along with a clap of thunder boomed overhead. Thomas jumped slightly and then took off in the direction of his home buried in the forest on the outskirts of the village. Black Hat followed quickly after him, pulling his cloak over his head to try to avoid getting too wet.  
  
Meanwhile, Cecil stirred from her sleep, awoken by the start of the storm. She sat up in bed and rubbed at her eyes. Shortly after, another flash came and when she looked out her window, she swore she saw two figures running off in the distance.  
  
She looked out for a moment longer when another flash emitted from the sky, but saw nothing. She shrugged it off as her imagination and laid back down to return to sleep.  
  
\---  
  
Black Hat ran closely behind Thomas all the way back to the warlocks small home. The two of them scrambled into the front door, closing it quickly to try and keep as much of the rain out as they could.  
  
The pair were soaked, both of their cloaks having done very little to keep them dry from the sudden downpour. Black Hat moaned at the squishiness of the water in his clothing, wishing he was back in the Underworld where it never rains while Thomas was glad that he hadn’t put out the fire he had going to keep his house warm before they left.  
  
Suddenly, Thomas began to strip off all of his layers, starting with his shoes and cloak and discarding them onto a bench by the fire. Black Hat looked at him, slightly taken back at how _ok this human was about stripping in front of someone else_ .  
  
Thomas looked up at Black Hat once removed his wet pants and started unbuttoning his shirt.  
  
“I’m sure I've got some clothing you could change into too, if you wanna get out of those wet ones.” Thomas looked between Black Hat and the shirt he was unbuttoning.  
  
Black Hat turned around, pulling his cloak closer to his body in an attempt to keep warm.  
  
“Suit yourself.” Thomas said, continuing to get changed out of his wet garments.  
  
About ten minutes passed before Thomas spoke up again. Black Hat had gotten lost in his thoughts while staring out one of the front windows of Thomas’ house and the warlocks voice had shocked him out of his trance. He turned towards Thomas, seeing that the man had changed into a very simple set of off-white sleep clothes.  
  
“Hey… Sorry about getting us stuck in the rain.” The green-eyed man started. Black Hat raised an eyebrow at the man.  
  
“I’m… gonna actually head to bed. It’s getting really late. I know you probably still don’t want them but I put out some stuff for you to change into over by the fire if you want to get out of those wet clothes. Its up to you, though.” Thomas finished, giving Black Hat a small smile.  
  
Black Hat turned his gaze over towards the fire, indeed finding a dry outfit folded up on the bench by Thomas’ wet clothing. Black Hat also spotted two blankets on the floor under the bench.  
  
“It’s only a nightshirt. I don’t think any of my pants would fit you but that shirts already a bit long on me, so it should cover you enough. It’s only for tonight till we can get your clothes dry.” Thomas looked over towards the fire himself.  
  
“I also put some blankets over there with the shirt. I’m not honestly sure if demons need to sleep but…” Thomas chuckled and rubbed his hand along the back of his neck awkwardly, “At least you have them if you want them?”  
  
Black Hat looked back up at Thomas, not sure if he was more annoyed by the wetness of his clothing or the awkwardness radiating off of the warlock standing next to him. He will say, though, that he was annoyed at this mans nervous tic of rubbing at the back of his neck so often.  
  
“You do whatever you want. See ya in the morning, Black Hat.” Thomas was about to give Black Hat a pat on the shoulder, but then looked at the hand he’d just recently bandaged up and decided against it.  
  
“Good choice.” Black Hat said quietly.  
  
Thomas chuckled awkwardly, “Night.”  
  
Black Hat watched Thomas retreat over to the small bed over in the corner of the room, curling up under the covers and settling in for sleep.  
  
Black Hat stood there and listened for the sound of quiet snoring before making his move towards the fire. He looked down at the white sleep shirt, trying to rid all awkwardness from his mind cause all he longed for right now was a dry outfit.  
  
He pulled off his cloak first, setting it down on the bench. Then piece by piece he began removing his other clothing. The only thing he kept on, besides his hat, was his under-garments, absolutely refusing to be that nude around anyone else. Thankfully they were only a bit damp at this point.  
  
He quickly pulled the nightshirt over his head and he was happy to finally be warming up again.  
  
He rearranged his clothing out to look like Thomas’, flattened against the bench to allow for them to dry out more evenly. Then he turned his attention to the blankets on the floor.  
  
Demons don’t really need to sleep often. They can, and they will sleep if they sustained heavy injuries to their bodies or get ill from one of the few diseases that can actually plague the species cause the sleeping process helps them heal, but sleep wasn’t something that was really needed beyond that.  
  
He kicked the blankets lightly with his foot, watching them squish under the pressure. He picked up one of them, pulling it around his shoulders before reaching down to grab the other one.  
  
He walked in front of the bench, pushing it back slightly to make a bit more room for him to lay out the one blanket on the floor in front of the fire. Sitting down on it, he leaned his back against the side of the bench and pulled the other blanket tightly around his shoulders.  
  
He stretched his legs out in front of him, longing for the warmth that the fire provided. He’s not used to feeling this cold, especially not for this long. Usually when he was summoned, he was summoned for one purpose and it was usually quick.  
  
All of this tonight, though? This was a first for him.  
  
Never before had he had to spend the night with his summoner. Never before did he have to try to help his summoner with such a dumb task like trying to get with a girl. _Never before did he have to feel so weird and vulnerable around his summoner._  
  
Black Hat sighed quietly, leaning back further and closing his eyes.  
  
_Little did he know what the future had in store for him..._  
  
  
\------  
  
Black Hat Outfit Ref (Drawn by Me!)  
  
**[Tumblr Post](http://hayamika.tumblr.com/post/162478441884/i-guess-i-need-to-call-my-black-hat-backstory) | [DeviantART Post](http://hayamika.deviantart.com/art/Villainous-Black-Hat-Backstory-AU-Outfit-Guide-689960760)**

  
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